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Preservation Alert

ASBURY PARK, NJ — The world reknowned trombonist, Arthur Pryor, played and conducted his orchestra for 25 glorious summers in a boardwalk pavilion overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, in Asbury Park. In the late ‘60s, a pavilion with a bandshell roof was erected in Pryor’s memory.

Since then, Asbury Park has hit on bad economic times and sold all of its oceanside structures to a development rights holder who plans to demolish the section of the pavilion housing the bandshell, to replace it with office space.

WEST HARTFORD, CT — A group dedicated to saving the 1947 Elm Theater is racing against time to gain public and private support for their efforts to buy the theater back from a developer hoping to turn the shuttered movie house into a drug store.

PASADENA, CA — The Rialto Theater in South Pasadena California is in danger now to some degree. It has been listed in the “Framework for Downtown Development” in the City of South Pasadena. Its future use may change.

On page 11 #7 of their special report from the Community Redevelopment Commission (CRC) Feb 18 2004, they state:

“The Rialto Theater is a key building in terms of its historic design and function and its potential to be an anchor and catalyst for future activity. The building is thought by some to be an opportunity for a public facility, incorporating the theater and using it as community space. Some feel that the CRA will need to reestablish eminent domain in order to facilitate the more appropriate reuse of certain properties. In any case, the exterior and the marquee should be renovated and refurbished. Others feel strongly that it should be completely refurbished and remain a theater, whether one screen or reconfigured to several small screens. Customers desire a better sound system, more comfortable seats, and more diverse and more extensive programming”

PASADENA, CA — Today is the deadline for those who wish to make a donation to help the Raymond Theatre. Donations are due at 5 pm PDT (8 pm EDT). If you’d like to help the Raymond, please visit the Raymond website for details.

PASADENA, CA — The following email was sent in by Gina Zamparelli, President, Friends of the Raymond Theatre:

“Dear Friends of the Raymond Theatre:

Our final day for donations is July 30th. We have made great strides over the past week, but we still have $1,405 more to raise. Therefore we will continue to take donations till 5pm on Monday, August 2.

If all you can donate is $5 or $10, every dollar WILL make a difference. If you can donate $15, $25, $50, $100 or more, it would help us make great strides towards meeting our fundraising goals before Monday!

Early next week we will let everyone know if we have raised enough money to continue our efforts to legally protect the Raymond Theatre.

NEW YORK, NY — We’re sad to report that the rumors about the closing of the Astor Plaza have finally been confirmed.

According to a report which appeared in yesterday’s New York Times, the Astor Plaza, one of the last remaining movie theaters in the heart of Times Square, will close in just a few weeks.

The S. L. Green Realty Corporation, who became new owners of the building that houses the Astor when they bought the remainder of Loews' lease — plan to convert the facility into a concert venue for live rock during a nine-month renovation.

For those who never experienced the majesty of this theater, it was glorious. While its design was spartan in comparison to the nearby Ziegfeld, the Astor made up for it with its gigantic seating area (1500+ seats), which seemed to suck in anyone and everyone in Times Square who ever loved movies. Friday night premieres were always a blast. And, during the Astor’s lifetime, it played a tremendous number of great movies… King Kong, Jaws, 2001, Superman, When Harry Met Sally, Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Matrix, and more. It will be missed.

(ED. — As many of you noticed, Cinema Treasures got a very nice mention in the Times article.)

HAMILTON, ON — The following email was sent in by Loren Lieberman, Executive Director of Creative Arts @ the Tivoli Theatre:

“Hi Everyone,

I’m sure that most, if not all of you know what’s going on at the Tivoli. I’ll make it brief for those who don’t. Last Tuesday night part of the roof and wall on the third floor of the Tivoli collapsed. Since then, the city has removed the entire third and fourth floors of the building as well as the marquee.

Some city workers say the destruction will end there, some say the whole building is coming down. Just to be clear – the auditorium is fine and the last 1/3 of the lobby (closest to the auditorium) should come out unscathed, but we stand to lose the oldest part of the Tivoli (it was built as a carriage factory built in 1875).

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND — Manchester’s historic Odeon cinema may be closing, according to a report on Manchester Online. The nearly 75-year-old theater is regarded as the oldest theater in the city center.

The article quotes a staff member “who was close to tears” as saying, “This has come as a real bombshell. It will be a terrible loss to Manchester. I hope we all get the chance to fight to keep it open because it is as much a part of the fabric of the city as any of the great buildings we have.”

PASADENA, CA — The following email was sent to us by the Friends of the Raymond Theatre:

“Dear Friends of the Raymond Theatre:

It has been a month since the last Raymond Theatre hearing was held and we have a lot of news for our supporters. The Pasadena City Council granted the developer the approvals they required to advance forward to final design review.